EAGLES - HOTEL CALIFORNIA LYRICS Hotel California Lyrics On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway, I heard the mission bell Then I was thinking to myself this could be Heaven or this could be Hell Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor I thought I heard them say "Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place Plenty of room at the Hotel California Any time of year You can find it here" Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat Some dance to remember, some dance to forget So I called up the captain, "Please bring me my wine" He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969" And still those voices are calling from far away Wake you up in the middle of the night just to hear them say "Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place Song by Opening Lyrics (19

70s) Quiz Song Artist A long, long time ago...

I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. Don McLean It's nine o'clock on a Saturday. The regular crowd shuffles in. There's an old man sitting next to me making love to his tonic and gin. Billy Joel First I was afraid. I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong. Gloria Gaynor I met her in a club down in old Soho, where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola. C-O-L-A, cola. The Kinks She packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour, nine a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then. Elton John Big wheels keep on turning. Carry me home to see my kin. Singing songs about the Southland. I miss Alabamy once again, and I think it's a sin. Lynyrd Skynyrd Guess who just got back today. Them wild-eyed boys that had been away haven't changed, haven't much to say. But man, I still think them cats are crazy.

Thin Lizzy Well you can tell by the way I use my walk: I'm a woman's man, no time to talk. Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around since I was born. The Bee Gees I looked out this morning and the sun was gone. Turned on some music to start my day. I lost myself in a familiar song. I closed my eyes and I slipped away. Boston On a warm summers evening on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with a gambler. We were both too tired to sleep. Kenny Rogers I've paid my dues time after time. I've done my sentence, but committed no crime. Queen You went to school to learn, girl, things you never, never knew before, like 'I' before 'E' except after 'C' and why two plus two makes four. Jackson 5 Young man, there's no need to feel down. I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground. I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town. There's no need to be unhappy. Village People Mama, take this badge off of me. I can't use it anymore. It's getting dark, too dark to see.

Bob Dylan Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals. I get my back into my living. I don't need to fight to prove I'm right. I don't need to be forgiven. The Who Song Artist On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas rising up through the air, up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. Eagles Almost heaven. West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains. Shenandoah River. Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains. Growin' like a breeze. John Denver Some people call me the Space Cowboy. Some call me the Gangster of Love. Some people call me Maurice 'cause I speak of the pompitous of love. The Steve Miller Band In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream. At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines. Bruce Springsteen Loving you isn't the right thing to do. How can I ever change things that I feel? If I could, maybe I'd give you my world. How can I when you won't take it from me? Fleetwood Mac Hey, ho. Let's go. Hey, ho.

Let's go. Hey, ho. Let's go. Hey, ho. Let's go. They're forming in straight line. They're going through a tight wind. The kids are losing their minds. The Ramones Well the south side of Chicago is the baddest part of town. And if you go down there you better just beware of a man named Leroy Brown Jim Croce Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain. We all have sorrow. But, if we are wise, we know that there's always tomorrow. Bill Withers I'm sailing away. Set an open course for the virgin sea. 'Cause I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me. Styx My child arrived just the other day. He came to the world in the usual way. But there were planes to catch and bills to pay. He learned to walk while I was away. Harry Chapin Every time that I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face gettin' clearer. The past is gone. It went by like dusk to dawn. Aerosmith Well we got no choice. All the girls and boys makin' all that noise 'cause they found new toys.

Well we can't salute you, can't find a flag. If that don't suit you, that's a drag. Alice Cooper Well I don't know why I came here tonight. I got the feeling that something ain't right. I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs. Stealers Wheel I am an Antichrist. I am an anarchist. Don't know what I want, but I know how to get it. I wanna destroy the passer-by. The Sex Pistols When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all. I'm on your side when times get rough and friends just can't be found. Simon & Garfunkel On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair - Polyvore On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair 5 months ago. 74 views. 7 likes. Follow #grunge #indie #palegrunge #alternative #fillers #Punk #90s #90sgrunge 7 Similar item 3425 Introduce dramatic flair to any look with LC Lauren Conrad.

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Measurements: Waist Measurement: 26 in Outseam: 15 in Inseam: 6 in Front Rise: 9 in Back Rise: 14 in Leg Opening: 18 in Product measurements were taken using size 2, inseam 9. Please note that measurements may vary by size. Hotel California Music Video - YouTube Hotel California Music Video Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Apr 5, 2008 Lyrics: On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself, 'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell' Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place Plenty of room at the Hotel California Any time of year, you can find us here Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-benz She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget So I called up the Captain, 'Please bring me my wine' He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine' And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say... Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device' And in the master's chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can't kill the beast Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before 'Relax,' said the night man, We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!

Category Eagles - Hotel California Lyrics Meaning click a star to vote Mar 24th, 2006 3:21pm report This song is about the attactive qualities of worldly things but their ultimate end. the man drives along the highway (his life) and his head grows heavy and his sight grows dim, forcing him to stop for the night (he dies). he sees a pretty woman in the doorway of the hotel but cannot decide if he is in heaven or hell. When the woman invites him in he sees the other people in the hotel. these people are mocking him as he comes in (such a lovely face) and they realize he does not know where he is. He goes to a party in the courtyard and sees people dancing (to remember better times, to forget the present). he askes the captain to bring him his wine, but the captain claims that they have not had that spirit (hopefullness or eagerness) since 1969. when the man starts to realize where he is (hell) he tries desperately to get back to his car (life).

the doorman tells him there is nothing to worry about, he can check out at any time, but he can never leave (referring to the fact that, once in hell, a person can realize their mistakes, and repent of their wrong doings, but by the time they realize this, they cannot leave hell.) Another interpretation I have found interesting is comparing the hotel with alcoholism/drug addiction (they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't till the beast) and trying to overcome the addiction. 2TOP RATED click a star to vote Sep 23rd, 2006 9:22pm report I think the lyric mercedes bends was quite intentional. The subject of the song (in this case california, and all it represents in people's heads) is afflicted. She's "tiffany twisted" and has the "mercedes bends". "the bends" is a condition that divers get when they surface too quickly and the pressure drop allows dissolved gasses in their blood to become gasses again. Severe pain and often death then occur. "hotel california" is obsessed with material wealth and money.

The idea of california is an idealistic draw for artists all over (what with free love and the sixties "age of aquarius and all that), but, as the song says "we haven't had that spirit here since 1969" ... The summer of love is long over, and is now replaced by the avarice, greed, and cynicism of the music industry. Once you're sucked into the west coast dream "you can check out" via drugs, or whatever "but you can never leave". Whatever youthful idealism you once had is forever gone and sucked up by the machine that is the music business. 3TOP RATED click a star to vote Apr 25th, 2006 4:26pm report I think that this song simply refers to Hell, and a man's account of how he got there and what it was like. The song starts out by telling how he dies...car wreck, something like that. The woman who is so tempting is sin...thus she shows the way to Hell. Trapped souls and demons welcome the man in the chorus, describing how it seems like a good place from the outside...

"Her mind is twisted" refers to the temptation of sin and the devil. (Remember Bedazzled with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley?) "She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys..." Those would be people destined for Hell but not there yet. Dancing in the courtyard refers to the lost souls remembering (or trying to forget) their time on earth and how they squandered their life by ending up in Hell. When the man calls for wine, he may be going through the same thing...the captain (the devil, a head demon, whatever) says that part of the punishment of Hell is that you can't forget. 1969 is a reference to the number 666, the sign of the beast, rather than the year. "Mirrors on the ceiling..." is a reference to sins committed here on earth. "We are all just prisoners here of our own device" refers to how humans get to Hell...by their own sins. At this point, the song get weird.

The people in Hell prepare for the "feast", which means that they are going to try to overthrow him (Satan, the beast, their keeper, etc) but they can't kill the Beast...This is describing how the Beast must die not by human efforts but by God. At this point, seeing all this, the man wants to leave and go back to earth because he finally realizes where he is. However, friends, you can't leave hell. "We are programmed to receive" is indeed one of the coolest lines of this song. "You can check out any time you like" You can die anytime, but you can "never leave" Hell. This just makes sense! Way more than a mental hospital or a drug trip or describing the music business. It is the description of Hell from a dead man's point of view. click a star to vote Aug 18th, 8:47pm report I think this is one of the BEST SONGS EVER WRITTEN. The lyrics tend to suggest several meanings but for me it's all about addiction. "Colitas" is a slang Mexican name for marihuana.

The fact that this traveler end up going into a hotel where a lady stand in the front-door and "his head grew heavy and sight dim" and where there was a feast "of pretty boys she called friends" where luxury and vanity were suggested and ending up "in a lovely place" all dancing with mirrors on the ceiling and Pink Champagne on ice (drug). We are all just prisoners here Of our own device And in the master's chambers They gathered for the feast They stab it with their steely knives But they just can't kill the beast... Most important is that part where the night man says "Relax, We are programed to receive. You can check out any time you like But you can never leave...

click a star to vote Jan 27th, 2016 1:36am report The EAGLES band with GLENN FREY [R.I.P] gave us some great music from ''one of these nights'' songs and on to ''Hotel California''that became one of their most popular songs played out over the airwaves about our entertainements with curiosity, caution and anxiety to find our enjoyable pleasures in life with one onother during the more innocent and confusing times of the 60's and 70's more in California that welcomed many beautiful people there to the parties. Throughout time this song has been keeping us on our toes with the feeling you're going through a maze where on every turn there is a new door to open, going through to experience each surprise of beliefs, thoughts and visions.

With one step at a time like you've landed to live out in a ''twilight zone'' episode feeling trapped in ''the matrix'' of things by the modern times that feels like reality, but you know it's not so real, while trying to get out of your circumstances that became pleasurably addictive to follow those symbol dreams to the end, being in the maze or the matrix that you have been ''programmed to recieve'' that feels overwhelming to the senses. All the while you wanna ''find the passage back'' to escape like in some familiar way Jobe did in ''The Lawnmower Man'' who found his way out where he was granted accses through the backdoor in getting out of the matrix maze computer he was programmed in that may have been just a virtual reality dream to get out alive before all hell breaks loose in his mind. So by coming to reality also ''you can check-out any time you like'' out of Hotel California ''but you can never leave'' Anotherwords the ending of this song reminds me in the quote ''never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway'' or what Jim Morrison said ''no one gets out alive'' from leaving this world.

click a star to vote Jan 23rd, 2016 1:15pm report Just a question: I remember seeing a vinyl album cover for Hotel California with a plain one- or two-story building painted institutional green on the cover. That building took up the entire width of the cover. There were no towers or fancy architectural details, just a flat-fronted building. There was no sign on it; it just looked like an old government building. I was told this was a picture of the Camarillo State Mental Hospital, the kind of place where you could "check out" (die), but "never leave" (be discharged). I can't find that photo anywhere. Was this an earlier or later cover, was this on a completely different album by who knows who, or have I lost my mind? Someone could have put this on the album cover for some unknown reason without the knowledge of the band. I'm sure that is not that unusual. Lots of musicians lose creative control of aspects of their work. Please help me if you know where I can find the photograph I am talking about.

click a star to vote Jan 23rd, 2016 1:37pm report The EAGLES band with GLENN FREY{R.I.P} gave us some great music from ''One of these nights' songs and on to ''HOTEL CALIFORNIA'' that became one of their most popular songs played out over the air waves about our entertainments with curiosity, caution and anxiety to find our enjoyable pleasures in life with one another during the more innocent and confusing times of the 60's and 70's, more in California that welcomed many beautiful people there to the parties. Throughout time this song has been keeping us on our toes with the feeling you're going through a maze where on every turn there is a new door to open, going through to experience each surprise of beliefs, thoughts and visions.

With one step at a time like you've landed to live out in a ''twilight zone'' episode feeling trapped in ''the matrix'' of things by the modern times that feels like reality, but your subconscious mind knows it's not so real while trying to get out of your circumstances that became pleasurably addictive to follow those symbol dreams to the end, being in the maze, or the matrix that you have been ''programmed to recieve'' that feels overwhelming to the senses. All the while you wanna ''find the passage back'' to escape like in some familiar way Jobe did in ''The Lawnmower Man'' who found his way out where he was eventually granted accses through the backdoor in getting out of the matrix maze computer he was programmed in that may have been just a virtual reality dream to get out alive before all hell breaks loose in his mind. So by ''coming to reality'' also ''You can check-out any time you like'' out of Hotel California. ''But you can never leave''. Anotherwords the ending of this song reminded me of the quote ''Never to take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway'' or what Jim Morrison said ''no one gets out alive'' from leaving this World.

click a star to vote Sep 18th, 2015 9:37pm report Word for word, this song refers to drug addition. The hook it creates at the beginning, when it all seems glamorous and fabulous, then your are lost in this world you can try to leave but will always remain trapped. Not having wine in 1969 signifies the change in vice from alcohol to drugs. Stabbing with steeling knife and not killing the beast...signifies the razors they used to cut and line cocaine, even though they were stabbing the beast it was not killing it. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget...needless to say, dancing is taking a hit and it signifies the usual causes of why people turn to drugs. Some to remember someone they lost or forget pains they've experienced. It almost describes the reasons why someone might arrive to a world of addition and how difficult it is to leave. click a star to vote Aug 7th, 2015 8:47pm report Despite popular belief, the Eagles have confirmed that “Hotel California” actually has nothing to do with Satanism, psychiatric hospitals, or cocaine addictions.

The hit song is actually an examination of the pitfalls of living within Southern California in the tumultuous 1970s. Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley of the Eagles, the “Hotel California” lyrics meaning is focused on the excess materialism of California, as well as across the nation in the 1970s. In an interview with the London Daily Mail in 2007, Don Henley disproved the wilder interpretations as merely figments of the overactive public imagination. Instead, the song was about the “uneasy balance between art and commerce.” The Grammy winner for Record of the Year in 1977, “Hotel California” was the band’s interpretation of the high life in California full of propaganda with the signature images of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, beaches with scantily clad women, and shining lights seen for hundreds of miles. The song is aimed the characteristic greed and hedonism associated with Hollywood during the time period, including the excess of drugs, piles of money, and easy women that the Eagles admitted they themselves were drowning in.

As evidence from the photographer for the album cover, he has stated that the picture was intended to represent the dramatic loss of innocence and rising growth of corruption. click a star to vote Jun 20th, 2014 6:18am report The age old question of what is binding us to our present condition. Same theme runs through other songs... We hold the key to releasing ourselves from whatever....status & fate... It s within ourselves, we have to find it. Just a change of location wont work. we are all prisoners... of our own desire? device? ... dont realize it. Hotel California is simply a metaphor. Another song.. dont remember name but Egles member.." .All Ready Gone?" we hold the key to release ourselves all along, but must first aknowledge that change must happen within ourselves.

Hotel California Eagles Chords and Lyrics for Guitar Intro: Bm - F# - A - E - G - D - Em - F# (2X) F#7 can be played rather than F#.- 242322- barre chord 2 [Bm]On a dark desert highway, [F#]cool wind in my hair [A]Warm smell of colitas, [E]rising up through the air [G]Up ahead in the distance, [D]I saw a shimmering light [Em]My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim [F#]I had to stop for the night [Bm]There she stood in the doorway, [F#]I heard the mission bell [A]And I was thinking to myself this could be [E]heaven or this could be hell [G]Then she lit up a candle,[D] and she showed me the way [Em]There were voices down the corridor, [F#]I thought I heard them say: //Chorus// [G] Welcome to the Hotel Cali[D]fornia Such a [F#] lovely place...

such a [Bm]lovely face [G] Plenty of room at the Hotel Cali[D]fornia Any [Em]time of year... you can [F#]find it here [Bm]Her mind is Tiffany twisted, [F#]she got the Mercedes bends, uh! [A]She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys [E]that she calls friends [G]How they dance in the courtyard, [D]sweet summer sweat [Em]Some dance to remember, [F#]some dance to forget [Bm]So I called up the captain, [F#]"Please bring me my wine," he said [A]"We haven't had that spirit here since [E]nineteen sixty-nine" [G]And still those voices are calling from [D]far away [Em]Wake you up in the middle of the night, [F#]just to hear them say [G] Welcome to the Hotel Cali[D]fornia Such [F#]a lovely place... such a [Bm]lovely face [G]Livin it up at the Hotel Cali[D]fornia What a [Em]nice surprise...

bring your [F#]alibis [Bm]Mirrors on the ceiling, [F#]the pink champagne on ice, and she said, [A]"We are all just prisoners here, [E]of our own device" [G]And in the master's chambers, [D]they gathered for the feast [Em]They stab it with their steely knives, but they [F#]just can't kill the beast [Bm]Last thing I remember, [F#]I was running for the door [A]I had to find the passage back to the [E]place I was before [G]"Relax" said the nightman, "We are [D]programmed to receive" [Em]"You can check out anytime you like, [F#]but you can never leave" Solo Important: The song above is NOT stored on the Chordie server. The original song is hosted at . Chordie works as a search engine and provides on-the-fly formatting. Chordie does not index songs against artists'/composers' will. To remove this song please click here. A Eagles Hotel California Song Lyrics Lyrics sponsored links It's likely your browser's cookies are disabled.

You'll need to turn cookies on. We can only display part of these lyrics to any suspicious robots due to licensing restrictions. On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself 'This could be heaven or this could be Hell' Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say Welcome to the Hotel California Finish the Lyric Quiz No April rain, no flowers bloom, no wedding Saturday... Stevie Wonder:5 Mama, just killed a man, put a gun against his head... Queen:6 Some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love... Steve Miller Band:5 I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of... Katy Perry:3 Still like that old time rock'n' roll, that kind of music... Bob Seger:4 Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep, Papa don't preach...

Madonna:4 If you'll be my bodyguard, I can be your long lost pal, I can call you Betty and... Paul Simon:10 Billie Jean is not my lover, she's just a girl who... Michael Jackson:6 Mamma mia, here I go again, my my, how can I resist you? Mamma mia... ABBA:4 Oops!...i did it again. I played with your heart... Britney Spears:5 Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, And I'll... Beatles:7 Glory days, well they'll pass you by, Glory days in... Bruce Springsteen:7 She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was... AC/DC:8 Sing us a song you're the piano man. Sing us a song tonight. Well we're all in... Billy Joel:5 On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas... Eagles:5 Hotel California by Eagles Songfacts Hotel California by Eagles Songfacts Songfacts Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, this song is about materialism and excess.

California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America. Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: "Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce." On November 25, 2007 Henley appeared on the TV news show 60 Minutes, where he was told, "everyone wants to know what this song means." Henley replied: "I know, it's so boring. It's a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about." He offered yet another interpretation in the 2013 History of the Eagles documentary: "It's a song about a journey from innocence to experience." California is seen from the perspective of an outsider here. Bernie Leadon was the only band member at the time who was from the state (Timothy B. Schmit, who joined in 1977, was also from California).

Joe Walsh came from New Jersey; Randy Meisner from Nebraska; Don Henley was from Texas; Glenn Frey was from Detroit, and Don Felder was from Florida. In our interview with Don Felder , he explained: "As you're driving in Los Angeles at night, you can see the glow of the energy and the lights of Hollywood and Los Angeles for 100 miles out in the desert. And on the horizon, as you're driving in, all of these images start coming into your mind of the propaganda and advertisement you've experienced about California. In other words, the movie stars, the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, the beaches, bikinis, palm trees, all those images that you see and that people think of when they think of California start running through your mind. You're anticipating that. That's all you know of California." Don Henley put it this way: "We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles." This won the 1977 Grammy for Record of the Year. The band did not show up to accept the award, as Don Henley did not believe in contests. Timothy B.

Schmit had just joined the band, and he says they watched the ceremony on TV while they were rehearsing. Don Felder came up with the musical idea for this song. According to his book Heaven and Hell: My Life in The Eagles, he came up with the idea while playing on the beach. He had the chord progressions and basic guitar tracks, which he played for Don Henley and Glenn Frey, who helped finish the song, with Henley adding the lyrics. Felder says they recorded the song about a year after he did the original demo, and in the session, he started to improvise the guitar part at the end. Henley stopped him and demanded that he do it exactly like the demo, so he had to call his wife and have her play the cassette demo over the phone so Felder could remember what he played. The lyric, "Warm smell of colitas," is often interpreted as sexual slang or a reference to marijuana. When we asked Don Felder about the term, he said: "The colitas is a plant that grows in the desert that blooms at night, and it has this kind of pungent, almost funky smell.

Don Henley came up with a lot of the lyrics for that song, and he came up with colitas." The Eagles aimed for a full sensory experience in their songwriting. Felder adds, "When we try to write lyrics, we try to write lyrics that touch multiple senses, things you can see, smell, taste, hear. 'I heard the mission bell,' you know, or 'the warm smell of colitas,' talking about being able to relate something through your sense of smell. Just those sort of things. So that's kind of where 'colitas' came from." This was recorded at three different sessions before the Eagles got the version they wanted. The biggest problem was finding the right key for Henley's vocal. Glenn Frey compared this song to an episode of The Twilight Zone, where it jumps from one scene to the next and doesn't necessarily make sense. He said the success of the song comes from the audience creating stories in their minds based on the images. The line, "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" is a reference to Steely Dan. The bands shared the same manager (Irving Azoff) and had a friendly rivalry.

The year before, Steely Dan included the line "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" on their song " Everything You Did ." Don Felder and Joe Walsh played together on the guitar solos, creating the textured sound. The lyrics for the song came with the album. Some listeners thought the line "She's got the Mercedes Bends" was a misspelling of "Mercedes Benz," not realizing the line was a play on words. Glenn Frey: "That record explores the under belly of success, the darker side of Paradise. Which was sort of what we were experiencing in Los Angeles at that time. So that just sort of became a metaphor for the whole world and for everything you know. And we just decided to make it Hotel California. So with a microcosm of everything else going on around us." >> Suggestion credit: Moomin - London, England When the Eagles got back together in 1994, they recorded a live, acoustic version of this song for an MTV special that was included on their album Hell Freezes Over.

Don Felder came up with a new guitar intro for this version the day they recorded it, and while it was not released as a single, it got a lot of airplay, helped the album top the charts the first week it was released, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, a category introduced in 1980 when the Eagles won with " Heartache Tonight ." Felder had some beef with how the credits were listed on this new version - the original single had the composers as "Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey," implying that Felder wrote most of the song and Frey the least. The new version was credited to "Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Don Felder." Felder claims that Henley and Frey added nothing original to the new version, and that this was simply a power play. Felder was fired from the band in 2001 after disputing payments and royalties. All seven past and present members of the Eagles performed this in 1998 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The hotel on the album cover is the Beverly Hills Hotel , known as the Pink Palace.

It is often frequented by Hollywood stars. The photo was taken by photographers David Alexander and John Kosh, who sat in a cherry-picker about 60 feet above Sunset Boulevard to get the shot of the hotel at sunset from above the trees. The rush-hour traffic made it a harrowing experience. Although it is well known that Hotel California is actually a metaphor, there are several strange Internet theories and urban legends about the "real" Hotel California. Some include suggestions that it was an old church taken over by devil worshippers, a psychiatric hospital, an inn run by cannibals or Aleister Crowley's mansion in Scotland. It's even been suggested that the "Hotel California" is the Playboy Mansion. >> Suggestion credit: Adam - Dewsbury, England The music may have been inspired by the 1969 Jethro Tull song "We Used to Know," from their album Stand up. The chord progressions are nearly identical, and the bands toured together before the Eagles recorded "Hotel California." In a BBC radio interview, Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson said laughingly that he was still waiting for the royalties.

In Ian Anderson's interview with Songfacts , he makes it clear that he doesn't consider "Hotel California" to be borrowing anything from his song: "It's difficult to find a chord sequence that hasn't been used, and hasn't been the focus of lots of pieces of music. It's harmonic progression is almost a mathematical certainty you're gonna crop up with the same thing sooner or later if you sit strumming a few chords on a guitar. There's certainly no bitterness or any sense of plagiarism attached to my view on it, although I do sometimes allude, in a joking way, to accepting it as a kind of tribute." After Don Henley came up with the title, a theme developed for the album.

Don Felder told us how some of the other songs fit in: "Once you arrive in LA and you have your first couple of hits, you become the ' New Kid In Town ,' and then with greater success, you live ' Life In The Fast Lane ,' and you start wondering if all that time you've spent in the bars was just ' Wasted Time .' So all of these other song ideas kind of came out of that concept once the foundation was laid for 'Hotel California.' It was a really insightful title." Don Felder: "I had just leased this house out on the beach at Malibu, I guess it was around '74 or '75. I remember sitting in the living room, with all the doors wide open on a spectacular July day. I had this acoustic 12-string and I started tinkling around with it, and those Hotel California chords just kind of oozed out.

Every once in a while it seems like the cosmos part and something great just plops in your lap." >> Suggestion credit: Stone - Libertyville, IL An alternative interpretation of the meaning of the lyrics is that the song is a description of the journey from Need to Love and Marriage to Divorce and ultimately to the impossibility of regaining the life and happiness of the pre-divorce state. Initially the traveler is feeling the need of a relationship ("My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night"). The traveler meets his love and gets married ("There she stood in the doorway. I heard the mission bell"). A marriage commitment opens up the possibility of happiness but also the traveler is aware and vulnerable to the possibility of intense unhappiness ("And I was thinking to myself, this could be heaven or this could be hell") Unfortunately the marriage dissolves and his love becomes obsessed with money ("Her mind is Tiffany-twisted") where Tiffany" refers to the very expensive jewelry store, Tiffany & Co. With the divorce there is the division of property - she got the Mercedes Benz.

After the breakup when he sees her with any guys she reassures him that the pretty, pretty boys" are just friends." In this new world of being single the other singles he meets do their dance in the courtyard" of life. They generally fall into two groups: There are those who can't stop talking about their Ex ("Some dance to remember") and there are those who don't what to say anything at all about their past marriage ("some dance to forget"). Now in this world of being divorced he longs to return the pre-divorced state of happiness ("So I called up the captain, please bring me my wine"), but he finds that his happiness is now irrevocably in the past ("We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"). Deep into the post-divorce single's scene with "mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice" he is reminded that "we are all just prisoners here, of our own device." He and others want this divorce nightmare to be over, yet - "they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast." Now frustrated, he panics and is "running for the door.

I had to find the passage back to the place I was before" But he is brought up short when the night man informs him that "You can checkout any time you like (commit suicide), but you can never leave" (become pre-divorced). There are two choruses in the song and each mention the "Hotel California." Around the time the song was written, California was experiencing the highest divorce rate in the nation. Each chorus has lines that remember his past marriage ("Such a lovely place") and his past lover ("Such a lovely face"). The first chorus indicates that there can always be more divorces ("Plenty of room at the Hotel California, any time of year, you can find it here"). The second chorus points out that as a part of divorce you will always "bring your alibis." >> Suggestion credit: David - Redwood City, CA The Hotel California album is #37 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Albums of all time. According to the magazine, Don Henley said that the band was in pursuit of a note perfect song. The Eagles spent eight months in the studio polishing take after take after take. Henley also said, "We just locked ourselves in.

We had a refrigerator, a ping pong table, roller skates and a couple cots. We would go in and stay for two or three days at a time." >> Suggestion credit: Ray - Stockton, NJ According to a reader-submitted poll for Guitar World magazine, the guitar solo for this song is ranked #8 out of 100. >> Suggestion credit: Romeo - Belo Horizonte, Brazil Don Felder told Gibson about his contribution to this track. "I thought it was really unique and different to anything ever written. The Eagles had been heading in a conventional country-rock direction. I was added to the band for my electric guitar, slide-electric ability and to help turn them into more of a rock and roll band. I was writing stronger guitar tracks that used electric guitar like ' Victim of Love ' and 'Hotel California.' When I came up with the 'Hotel California' progression, I knew it was unique but didn't know if it was appropriate for the Eagles. It was kind of reggae, almost an abstract guitar part for what was on the radio back then.

When I was writing for the Hotel California album, I was working on a TEAC 4-track in a beach house in Malibu and I was putting down ideas on tape. Then I made cassette copies and gave them to [Don] Henley, [Glenn] Frey, Walsh and [Randy] Meisner. Henley called me to say he really like the Mexican bolero, Mexican reggae song. I knew exactly which track he meant. Don came up with a great lyric concept for the song." This followed "New Kid in Town" as the second single released from the album. There was no doubt about the song's merits as an album track, but issuing it as a single defied convention. Don Felder told us: "when we finally finished that whole album, the record company had been pounding on the door trying to get in and get this record, because they wanted to release it. We were about four months overdue on delivering our record per our contract. So we finally let the record company in. The execs come in and we had this playback party for them at the record plant here in Los Angeles.

And after the song 'Hotel California' played, Henley turned around and said, 'That's going to be our single.' In the '70s, the AM format, which was what we were really aiming for, had a specific formula; your song had to be between three minutes and three minutes and thirty seconds long, and it had to be a dance track, a rock track, or a trippy ballad. The introduction could only be 30 seconds long before the singer started, so the disc jockey didn't have to speak so long. 'Hotel California' is six and a half minutes long. The introduction to it is a minute long. You can't really dance to it. It stops in the middle when the drums stop: 'mirrors on the ceiling,' that section, and it's got a two minute guitar solo on the end. It's the complete wrong format. So I said, 'Don, I think you're wrong. I think that's a mistake. I don't think we should put that out as the single.

Maybe an FM cut, but not a single.' And he said, 'Nope, that's going to be our single.' And I've never been so delighted to have been so wrong in my life. You just don't know." In Chicago at the time of this song's popularity many people called the Cook County jail "Hotel California" because it is on California street. The name stuck and now people of all ages and races refer to the jail by this nickname. >> Suggestion credit: Jesse - Chicago, IL This was featured in the first episode of the TV series American Horror Story: Hotel, which is about a haunted and horrifying hotel run by Lady Gaga. The show in many ways is a visual representation of the song, and this episode ("Checking In") ends with a man moving into the hotel under duress. The song plays as he starts the process, and when he gets to his room, the episode ends, punctuated by the line, "You can check out any time you'd like, but you can never leave." This was not the first time the song has been used in a TV series, but rights are granted judiciously.

Other TV uses include: The X-Files - "Beyond the Sea" (1994) Absolutely Fabulous - "Poor" (1994) The Sopranos - "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" (2001) Entourage - "Adios, Amigos" (2007)

Question: """On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair"", are the opening lines of which pop song?"
Answer: 'HOTEL CALIFORNIA'